The new Halloween movie hits theaters this week, and with that, the early reviews are here. There were some released after an early screening in August, but now they’re all here – and they suggest a great return for the franchise, as it looks to be the highest reviewed entry in the franchise since the original.
The Rotten Tomatoes Critics’ Consensus reads:
Halloween largely wipes the slate clean after decades of disappointing sequels, ignoring increasingly elaborate mythology in favor of basic – yet still effective – ingredients.
As it currently stands, there are 65 good reviews, and 11 bad ones. Here are some of the good ones:
US Weekly: There’s something appealing, even comforting, about an overtly low-rent horror flick.
LA Times: Scary and propulsive, it doesn’t just forge a direct link to Carpenter’s original; it pretends all the garbage in between never even existed.
AP: [It] faithfully adopted much of what so resonated in Carpenter’s genre-creating film — the stoic killer, the gruesome executions, the suburban nightmares — what makes his Halloween such a thrill is how it deviates from its long-ago predecessor.
USA Today: A new coat of paint, even on a storied house of horrors such as “Halloween,” can do wonders.
The List: Green has turned in a straightforward stalk-n-slash that sticks true to the tone of the original – and, in the grand tradition of the franchise, leaves the door open for more Myers mayhem.
Here are a few of the bad ones (yes, the first one is a real “review”):
Flick Filosopher: A minor fan-fiction take on the franchise’s mythology: Hey, maybe middle-aged Laurie Strode likes guns LOL? Nowhere near as feminist or as psychologically incisive as it thinks it is. And it’s not even scary.
New Yorker: Is this promise of scariness fulfilled? Only in flickers and fits.
Forbes: The acting and violence are appropriately impressive, but a choppy screenplay, a lack of real-world logic and mixed messages render this less of an update and more of a glorified fanfiction.
So there you have it. If you enjoyed the other Halloween movies, then it’s pretty obvious you’re going to enjoy this one. It’s also become apparent that some reviewers can’t detach themselves from politics (and reality) for a moment just to watch a movie, as more reviews these days seem to keep throwing in their biased and unwanted opinions when reviewing a movie.
Halloween hits theaters everywhere on October 19th.
How do you feel about these reviews? Will you be watching the movie? Tell us your thoughts below!